Whumptober 2019 - 01 - Shaky Hands
by OllieCollie
Summary: Mouse bit back another pained grunt and pressed harder against the wound. He needed the bleeding to stop, but his hands were shaking so hard he could barely hold the gauze in place.


**A/N: Joining some of my amazing writing friends for Whumptober...I am hoping to get all of them completed, but we shall see! As a heads up, these fics will most likely be posted on time on the AO3 site; it may be a few days before I get them up on here.**

**Multiple fandoms will be used throughout the month. ;)**

_**Standard disclaimers apply.**_

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Mouse's hands shook as he attempted to fold a piece of white gauze into a smaller square. There was a lot of blood, more than he'd hoped to see when he tugged his shirt off.

He pressed the gauze to his side and grunted. It had been a rough rescue-turned-firefight, and he'd narrowly avoided getting shot only to fall onto a jagged piece of metal amidst the debris. The chaos had been great enough that once they returned to their temporary base, he was able to slip away unnoticed. It wasn't bad enough to warrant medical attention—he was up to date on his tetanus and the cut itself wouldn't even require stitching. Besides, there were others who were worse off than he was and had to be evacuated. He could take care of this himself.

Mouse bit back another pained grunt and pressed harder against the wound. He needed the bleeding to stop, but his hands were shaking so hard he could barely hold the gauze in place.

"C'mon," he muttered, leaning back against his cot for a breather. He needed to hurry up and get this dealt with before someone came looking for him—

"Mouse?"

The Ranger shot to his feet and nearly doubled over, a loud gasp escaping his lips.

Jay Halstead gaped back at him, concern filling his face. "What the heck happened?"

"I—" Mouse dropped back down to the floor, wincing as the jarring movement sent stabbing pain through his abdomen. "I'm fine," he muttered.

Jay's eyes landed on the other man's blood-stained hands. "Yeah, well, forgive me if I don't agree." He moved to Mouse's side and crouched. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Mouse didn't bother with a reply. He was too exhausted, anyway, and he was going to get a lecture from Jay either way.

"You can't not tell me about something like this," the older soldier chided, gently pushing Mouse's trembling hands away from the wound and pulling back the bloodied gauze to get a better look. "Dang it, man."

Mouse squinted down at the cut. Ouch, yeah, it did look pretty bad. Still wouldn't need stitches, but it was gonna hurt for a while.

Jay reached behind him and grabbed the roll of gauze. "All right, ready?"

"Yeah." Mouse braced himself as his buddy placed the white gauze over what he already had covering the wound.

"Three, two, one…" Jay pressed down, applying as much pressure as he could in hopes of stemming the flow of blood. Mouse gripped his buddy's pant leg and gasped.

"I know, I know," Jay muttered. "Sorry, man." He kept his hands firmly pressed against the gauze for several minutes. Eventually, it worked, and Jay was able to clean and dress the wound. He finished taping the bandage in place and sighed, lifting an eyebrow. "Seriously, Mouse, _say _something next time."

The younger soldier rolled his eyes. "I thought I could take care of it. I don't have to come crying to you every time I get a paper cut."

Jay cuffed him lightly on the head. "Smart aleck."

Mouse grinned and then winced, arm winding protectively around his injured side. Jay frowned.

"Come on," he said, tugging Mouse to his feet. "You should get some rest."

Mouse _wanted _to protest that he was fine, but if he was being honest, a full night of sleep sounded great right about now. He was achy and exhausted—not to mention his side still felt like it was on fire.

Jay got him settled, complaining about how he hoped there never was a next time—but if there was, Mouse had better come to him or a medic as soon as possible. He'd quickly agreed, only because he did not want to listen to his best friend carry on for another five minutes. Jay's over-protective tendencies were sometimes smothering, but Mouse reminded himself how lucky he was that he had someone who cared about him—and someone he cared about right back.

Someone he could call brother.


End file.
